Tao
by newperson
Summary: How Tao became Tao.
1. Tao

The 24-year-old genius had suddenly disappeared one night. He never returned home, never showed up to school and unbeknownst to him, Li Wei Kueng would never celebrate another birthday. From this day forth, he would forever remain the same age.

People who had known him would feel loss and grief over this situation, but a youthful woman was very pleased and excited, bubbly circling the individual.

"Wonderful! Just wonderful!" Dr. Arith scrutinized her new souvenir. She had travelled to China in search for a factory that would produce the exact equipment she designed for a new human enhancement experiment.

She examined the young man's build and his height, "This one wouldn't be put to good use for direct combat; he's kind of frail."

"I agree," The man next to her pushed up his glasses, "he was known for his talent with computer programming."

"Oh good," Dr. Arith placed her palms together, "then it would make sense to have him be the strategist on my team. We do need someone with intelligence."

The man smiled, "Good choice, Dr. Arith."

"What should I call him, Yuriy?"

"What about Tao?"

"Tao?"

"It means 'the way'. It's one of the great philosophies born in this country—people here believe that there is a way to everything, and when you know the right path, all things are yours."

"Very fitting. Then his name shall be Tao."


	2. Awake

He came to consciousness on a cold hospital bed. Looking around, he wasn't certain this was a hospital bed, but that was the closest association his foggy brain could muster. Had he been in some accident? Who was he? Why couldn't he remember anything about himself?

Listening, the people around him were all speaking in a foreign tongue.

"Good morning," greeted a young man with glasses, tan skin and bleached blonde hair. He could speak Chinese.

Before he could ask, the man briskly continued, "You are not permitted to ask any questions. You may not leave this room without permission from myself or the doctor. Your name is Tao. Do remember that. You were born today."

Born today? What did that mean? Didn't people start as babies when they were born? Who was his mother? Why is he an adult? Where was he? Who were these people? What was his role here? What did these people want with him? What were they doing with him?

His thoughts soon settled on the one constant he was provided. His name was Tao. That was certain. He couldn't know if that had always been his name, but at least he had some identity to cling on to and make his own. Tao. He liked the sound of it. It could have been a number. He was glad it wasn't a number.

Associations were flooding back to him. He could speak Chinese. He must have been from China. The government was known to kidnap people. It was a silent terror. Perhaps he was one of these persons that mysteriously went missing due to unfavorable politics. He couldn't remember his family. What was their political stance? It didn't matter now.

Now he would have to make the most of the situation in which he found himself. He knew the best way to stay alive was to be friendly and courteous. He had to make new connections with people and determine who he could trust and to what extent. If you cannot gain the favour of the authority figures, your life will be full of struggle. You may not even have the right to life. That was the heritage he had been given. Tao decided he was going to live.

He may not have all the answers right away, but at least he was awake.


	3. Learning

There was nothing much to observe in the room. The décor was plain, with white walls and no windows. An air vent was located on the floor, across from the door, which appeared to have an electronic lock.

Suddenly, Tao heard screaming. It was coming from down the hall. The sound was agonizing but he did not have permission to move. So Tao stayed put.

The screaming continued on and off.

Eventually a nurse came in. At least, Tao assumed she was a nurse if he was right that this was some kind of hospital or psychiatric ward. Her long maple locks were tied up in a bun. She was dressed in a lab coat and had a laptop with her. On it was a note.

Tao had permission to use this. He had to learn English, Spanish, German, French and Russian in the next five months. Was this humanly possible?

At first it appeared to be a ludicrous task, as much as Tao considered himself to be smart. However, he was given a number of drugs and injections which allowed him to multitask and hold a vast amount of information in his head without fatigue. Tao was very impressed with whatever they were doing with him, despite having no voice on the matter. He was especially looking forward to soon understanding more of the blabbering he overheard on a day to day basis.

After a week, the side effects of sudden nausea and migraines dissipated. Tao was still disappointed with the bland foodstuffs they he was meagerly provided, yet he made sure to thank heaven he was offered anything to eat at all.

He could now distinguish and identify every voice in the building. He'd graciously given nicknames to everyone for his own amusement. Not that he'd ever use them aloud, of course. On floor A, there was Chocolate, Vanilla, Caramel and Hazelnut, the four assistants that cleaned the lab equipment on rotation. Tao was especially fond of Hazel, who would sneak in a treat or two with his meals. On floor B, there was Pizza, Hotdog and Taco, the guards who would frequent the canteen. Cupcake and Doughnut worked the cash registers. Tao could categorize people according to everything from savory edibles to sweet desserts to kitchen and bathroom appliances with accessories.

On occasion, he'd voice a small complaint about the ergonomics of his training. Perhaps his eyes would feel strain and fatigue. He'd then find himself with the physical enhancement for the job. It was a sweet deal really, and the rapid exponential growth of his skill was pleasing to more than the doctor and staff. Tao couldn't afford to show smugness and cockiness, but who wouldn't like being able to call oneself a human universal translator? He could even appreciate the nuances of each tongue and the unique cultural expression with which it interpreted reality.

It wasn't long before a month had already passed, and Tao learned to adapt to the culture of this strange experimental facility. The people here were sane on the surface. But Tao knew everyone's secret habits. He was, after all, capable of watching all the hidden security cameras on five hundred different screens, covering over twenty different floors.

He would entertain himself studying the interactions between people as they conducted their relations, noting who got along with who and the temperament of every person he could get a glimpse of. He listened to people yell at each other, engage in combat over trivial concerns; he heard rational conversations and scientific debates which offered clues about all the questions he still carried. It turns out he was now living in Austria. That was where this particular lab base was located. Tao still wanted to know what the purpose of this organization was. They called themselves "the Union." Perhaps too, he wanted to know how he got here and why his memory was tampered with. Knowing how it was tampered would be a bonus.

It had been a long time since Tao had hacked a computer. In fact, it was not until he was handed his first hacking assignment that Tao recalled he had done this before, in the life that he could not recall. Now all of his missions involved hacking. They certainly wanted to keep him busy. He was mildly surprised at how many languages he now had under his belt, if you combine both human and computing languages.

And Tao was still learning.


	4. Fashion

Tao had since learned the guy he had first heard screaming was called Shark. What a silly name. It was like calling someone a fish with sharp teeth, characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton. Tao was grateful he got a name worth holding on to. Having seen Shark, any cultured fellow would thank his own looks.

The man looked the part of the criminally insane, lacking eyebrows with white visible all around his irises. His hair was a constant oily ragged mess. His skin was a sickly pale grey. Tao wondered if Shark had always looked this crazy, or whether it was the experiments that permanently damaged the mirror neurons in his prefrontal cortex and shut down his ability for empathy.

"What's with the shoulder?" Shark jeered.

Tao looked up from finishing his bag of chips, posing with confidence, his right shoulder exposed, "Fashion statement!"

"It looks gay."

"Well it was inspired by an actress in a 1983 American film based on a true story."

Tao didn't say the exposed shoulder was a symbol of resilience from rags to riches, a classic Cinderella plot, only with more music videos. It would be reused in media for generations to come.

"You trying to seduce someone?"

"I wouldn't dare to," Tao brushed a lock of his cropped hair, "I don't think it's permissible given our way of life."

"I have seen an idiot who tried."

"And he's still among the living?"

"No."

"Didn't think so." Tao rested his case.

Shark kept going, "What's the point in being fashionable in a place like this though? Who's looking?"

"You, apparently," Tao suppressed a laugh. He didn't do it to please anyone other than himself.

Overhearing the conversation, a plump man named Hammer paused from his meal and joined in, "You been streaming videos and watching movies again, Tao? Don't you have anything more valuable to do with your time, like sparring?"

Tao also felt joy he wasn't named after some common inanimate object. Nicknames were one thing, but the man's code name was actually Hammer.

"There's a lot to be learned from popular culture," Tao explained, despite knowing his expertise would soon fall on deaf ears, "it exposes and shapes human thought. People form camaraderie over such shared interests and inside jokes."

"Whatever," Hammer finished his sandwich.

Sometimes it was lonely having camaraderie conversations with himself. Tao patted himself on the shoulder in thought. He had thought of creating invisible friends, but he wasn't sure he wanted to go down that route. Tao wanted to keep the illusion to himself that he was the sanest person in the building. He was childish, yes, but not a child. Childishness kept him innovative and creative.

"Why not pull down the other shoulder while you're at it?" Shark continued to pester.

Tao blinked, nonplussed, "Does the asymmetry of how I choose to wear my shirts bother you so much you want me to strip?"

Hammer let out a hefty laugh, "Guess Shark can't handle anything girly. Or maybe he likes it and won't admit it."

"I don't care how that guy wears his shirt," Shark defended himself, "even if he wears it like a woman."

Tao grinned like the Cheshire cat, entertained by the whole verbal exchange. Standing tall with his broad shoulders, he dared to correct Shark, "It's gender neutral fashion."


	5. New Guy

Snooping through the documents of all the subjects ever experimented on, Tao found there used to be another agent, or test subject, who was killed by Shark. And whole lot more killed by Krantz, if you go back another decade. Krantz wasn't the first subject in the record, but he was the oldest surviving one at present. Statistically speaking, Tao was lucky to have survived the drug dosage he was being given.

Realistically speaking, Tao was fortunate to have the sociability to keep on Shark's good side. Shark loved to taunt and torment; and these bullying words had no effect on Tao so Shark stopped picking on him. They weren't exactly friends, but at least their boundaries were clear.

Tao even got Shark to try lipstick. Of course, Shark chose to wear it black, and black was a very fitting colour. Hammer styled his hair into a black Mohawk. He got a black skull tattoo on his right shoulder. All three of them wore black shirts. Tao painted his own nails black. He had convinced Shark to try it once, but with all the fighting he did, the polish got scratched off in no time. Tao spent more time on computer keys, so his black nails were fine.

Black was the colour of mystery, change and transformation. It had several different meanings depending on the cultural heritage you were raised in. In the West, black is primarily associated with evil, death and darkness, but Tao didn't come from the West. Black in the east symbolized protection.

One of the unfortunate side effects of his exponentially enhanced mental and attentional capabilities was his hair had gone stark white, which upset Tao a great deal. He wasn't happy watching himself grey when he only looked 24. This emotional torment gave him leeway to convince his doctor to allow him to order hair and beauty cosmetic products. If they didn't perform to his satisfaction, he made sure to complain to someone. Those crazy researchers were bound to come up with something. Tao always left a lock of his hair un-dyed, with the hope that one day he will observe it naturally grow back black again. He was very fond of his BLACK hair.

Everyone thought he was making too much fuss about his looks, so whenever possible, Tao helped his fellow subjects indulge in requests of his technological superiority, so he would make it clear through action he was valuable and worth keeping around. No one could match the speed at which he could search, find and obtain any information, no matter how well hidden and locked. The doctor's orders to be civil had nothing on a guy like Shark, who would only cooperate with persons who were physically stronger than him or were not annoying. Tao wanted to keep himself in the 'not-annoying' category.

Of course, he couldn't say the same for the new guy.


	6. Pretty Boy

He was the proposed fifth member of their DA-unit led by Krantz.

"Look at him!" Shark sneered, "I thought that was a woman. Have you ever seen a man with that much hair?"

It was certainly the longest hair Tao had ever seen on a human head. The ends easily reached past his knees. The amount of care it would take to maintain those locks would certainly outrank anything he ever needed.

"I used to think you were prissy about your hair, but I was wrong," Shark admitted, "there's a guy girlier than you!"

"His name is Takeo," Tao supplied without being asked, "He appears to be Japanese." How pleasant to be among someone who was also Asian, even if the two countries were always in conflict!

"Japanese, huh," Hammer looked the newcomer up and down, "I swear it's those Asian genes that make the men look like women."

"I wonder if he's friendly," Tao mused aloud.

He walked up to the new face, speaking in Japanese, "Hello there! I'm Tao. Nice to meet you."

"What is this place?"

Tao lowered his head, obscuring his eyes with his long bangs, "Ooh, you're not supposed to be asking those kind of questions this early in the game, my friend."

"You're not going to tell me?"

"I can," Tao dropped his voice to a whisper, "but I can guarantee you that it won't be the answer you're looking for."

"How would you know that?"

"Because I used to be exactly where you are."

"I still want to know."

"All right," Tao warned, "This place is..."

The other man waited.

"This place."

There was a long pause.

Takeo glared at him, "What?"

"This place is this place. There's no other way to describe it without having experienced it for yourself."

Tao was sure the other man wanted to kill him at this instant. He offered the poor fellow some reassurance and elaborated, "Honestly, we're all here because we were brought here and we can't do anything about it, so might as well call it home. This place is what you make of it."

"..."

This guy was going to be fun to tease.

It turned out Takeo didn't quite get the 'how to be friendly memo'. Despite Tao's wonderful introduction to all the other members and staff, Takeo kept his distance from the rest of the group, preferring solitude. He did, however, showed a soft side to the women at the facility. He was also openly fussy about his hair. Tao briefly wondered how to save the man from the wrath he was inflicting upon himself.

"He annoys me," Shark glared at Takeo from the other side of the canteen, "the pretty boy."


	7. Serious

It wasn't long before Shark had managed to find all of the new boy's buttons, considering how much fun he had pushing said buttons to find them. Takeo was a very private person, and it quickly became clear that his affinity for "the weak," (as Shark would call it) was linked to his younger sister. She was a very attractive woman, so whenever Takeo saw someone pretty and cute, he would be reminded of her.

Tao never heard of a pair of siblings being kidnapped—as far as he knew, the doctor preferred to work with individuals. If he had any siblings, he wouldn't know of them.

Still, pushing this particular button wasn't the smartest move, as Takeo was quite skilled with a gun, notably a rifle. Quite is an understatement. His eyes were enhanced to further push his ability to see into the distance, which for some reason had the side effect of reducing the melanin in the man's irises, turning them into a cold icy blue.

If this had been Germany in the Second World War, Tao was sure that this would be of particular interest to Dr. Josef Mengele.

Sometimes Shark would just mention her to get Takeo mad, but it would go no further than that. After all, Takeo proved himself to hover on the cusp of Shark's 'not annoying' category—and hover there he did. Hammer and Tao made sure to reason with Shark not to aggravate Takeo, highlighting the weight of cons over pros. Of course, Captain Krantz could order Shark to be civil, but even the captain knew Shark didn't obey orders to the letter.

Takeo would usually choose to ignore all of them as long as he wasn't given any orders. Keeping his distance and wandering off on his own was how he dealt with the constant bullying behaviour. Tao'd never seen the man laugh or take a joke.

"Knock! Knock!" He greeted Long-Locks cheerfully.

Two eyes stared back at him, "…"

Even Tao was getting the cold shoulder! Such lack of tact!

Tao shook his head, "So serious."


	8. Thinking

Tao figured the reason Takeo honed his speed and agility was to protect his hair. His choice of weaponry also aided minimum damage to those incredibly long strands. It must be a source of pride for him, to have never cut it since birth. He almost killed Shark once over accidentally brushing past his hair—of course, knowing Shark, he probably meant to touch it on purpose. Shark will never admit to the humiliating episode. Tao knew that Shark would be looking for revenge against Takeo, taking care to give the man a verbal punch at every little opportunity.

"Takeo," Tao found the other man standing against the wall outside the building.

He didn't bother to look Tao's way, "What?"

"I was just wondering," Tao placed his hands in his pockets, "do you remember the first time you killed someone?"

"Hmph," Takeo looked up, "why?"

"Just curious."

"Of course I remember."

"Oh?"

"My first mission," Takeo shared, "involved hunting an infected being."

"Ah."

"I was able to do it," He sighed, "because it wasn't quite human."

"That's how they ease you into it," Tao knew.

They would start with an actual monster, something grotesque, that you wouldn't associate with being human. Then the monsters would get more and more human-like, and you became less and less human like. Soon, you'd take on the identity of a power user, someone who was no longer human. Humans were then not like you. It provided enough distance to be able to take their lives, knowing you would never have to face the consequences. You were only following orders. You were a tool, a machine. They were weak, insignificant, insolent and worthless.

For Tao, it was self defense. If someone was trying to kill him, it made sense to defend his own life. Sometimes that involved death, but you felt justified because it was either theirs or yours. You weren't the hunter—you were the hunted. And you had to teach the hunter they were hunting the wrong prey.

There were other ways to trick your brain to shut off its ability for empathy. One was the use of language, which Tao knew too well. They eliminated enemies; they didn't kill people. It was all about the way you talked about it.

"…" Takeo refused to shift his gaze from the sky. Tao wondered what he was thinking.


	9. Fearsome

Considering how often they moved around the world now, Tao naturally became the language teacher.

He had a lot of fun with this job, considering no one ever questioned what he was teaching them. Not that Tao would ever play with words in such a way that would land him in jeopardy during a mission!

Meanwhile, Tao was going through another series of experiments to increase his combat abilities. After all, having survived so far, he naturally assumed a role in collaboration with the other subjects as part of the Union's Special Forces Team. His 'job' was to eliminate the opposing groups of the Union. Their role was to publicly flaunt their power to keep their enemies in fear of opposing. They accomplished their task primarily through large-scale massacre operations that leave the death toll as a warning.

Tao was grateful he wasn't often handed the role of direct combat. No matter how many times he's watched Hammer, Shark and Kantz kill and maim on missions, he still hadn't acquired the taste for blood. Sure, he was plenty desensitized to violence, especially on screen violence, but between scouting out the location of the enemy and actually taking out said enemy, Tao much preferred the safety of staying in the shadows.

But a team is only as strong as their weakest link; and Tao'd be damned if anyone considered him to be the weakest member of the DA-5. Of course, even if there was a huge gap between each member's abilities, Tao couldn't afford to be ranked at the bottom.

To gain the respect of his team, his physical prowess had to be at least on par with the top three or four members. Otherwise, he could easily be replaced and sent to a different team. Frankly, Tao liked Krantz, Hammer, Shark and Takeo—more or less, he could put up with all their quirks. He couldn't say the same for the Assassin Team, which Jake occupied. That man was a cocky son of a bitch. If anyone had thought Shark had issues being civil, they hadn't met Jake.

Because your rank was determined by how much ass-kicking you did, Tao made a show of putting Jake in his place. If your ass was the one kicked, then you had no authority.

Still, the fight got dust all over his hair, so after leaving Jake in a paralysed shock, Tao went to take a shower.

Tao looked in the mirror. Hmm. That was strange. Was the light playing tricks on him? No.

His eyes were blue too.

Yup. That was definitely blue. Whatever they were doing to enable him to stare at monitors for an ungodly amount of time had changed his eye colour, like Takeo.

Or maybe it was the stress. Tao spent a lot of time on the computer to relieve his stress. Takeo would go out for long walks. Hammer snacked all the time. Shark bullied others. Tao didn't know what Krantz did to relieve his stress—perhaps he meditated. The injustice was slowly cultivating a seed of anger in all of them, but some people hid it better than others. After all, Shakespeare was right about life being a play and the world was the stage—they were all actors.

Tao had a knack for acting, but Yuriy's acting beat his any day. The man with the tan skin, bleached hair and glasses who Tao had first met was Dr. Arith' proxy. He was the one who came to give them the doctor's instructions. Tao didn't like Yuriy, because he was the one person Tao couldn't figure out. The man constantly wore a clever smile, it was unnerving. The man also must be an incredible power user, because he was the only one who could intimidate their captain, Krantz, who never showed signs of nervousness after meeting anyone else but Yuriy. How fearsome.


	10. Weary

Tao found that Dr. Arith was trying to copy the strongest military unit of the 12th Elder, a group of bodyguards called Cerberus. That's why she sought a group of five subjects.

For training, they would take turns fighting each other, usually to the point where one person could no longer stand. Of course, having said there was a huge gap between their respective combative abilities, the outcome of the battle was already known from the start. No one could take down Krantz, not even all of them combined. He'd let them live of course, as the point of their fight was to raise the weaker members up so the whole unit was stronger. The purpose for this was if they were ever separated and targeted as an individual, each could hold their own until they could reunite.

Sometimes they'd fight without pills. At other times, they trained while on D. No one knew why the pill was called D—it was one of those questions you shouldn't ask. Their skin colour would turn dark navy, but it would return to normal after the drug wore off. The colour came over them like a protective skin-suit; then dissolved after half an hour. Over time, the dosage increased, along with the length of time with which they could maximize its effects.

Krantz's specialty was pure power—he was the strongest, fastest and capable of making decisive decisions in the heat of combat. Shark's choice of weaponry was two throwing knives; Hammer's was explosives; Takeo's was shooting; and Tao's was electronics. He was skillful with anything regarding electrical currents, dismantling and repairing technological gadgets, hardware and software, you name it.

Tao could shock people: both figuratively and literally.

Figuratively because he loved to toy with people's boundaries and immerse them in culture shock. He could also, with the aid of his equipment, spy on the enemy, strategizing against their location, plan of attack and unit formation to send one of his colleagues to sneak up and shock (eliminate) them.

Literally because he was like Spiderman, with thin wires that shoot from his wrist at will and wrap the enemy before being delivered a deadly electric shock (the latter part unlike Spiderman). Tao could vary the voltage too. It was a side effect of enhancing his neural capacity, allowing Tao to generate and withstand a tremendous amount of energy firing through all his neural circuits and control every nerve in his body. It was truly fascinating how one did not need to "learn" to fight in the traditional sense of learning—using one's brain. Tao used his brain often, so it was more of a challenge for him to shut his thinking off during a direct battle.

Fighting was pure instinct and reflex. It was about training your body, not your mind. You need the nerve and muscle memory to do the thinking for you. There is not time to think when faced with a life or death moment—the response must be instantaneous. The body was a tricky thing; it will freeze with fear or any kind of cognitive thought. To keep an open and playful mind in the midst of combat wasn't exactly second nature. The ability to react to an attack was directly related to how calm and alert you were, free of tension, but not relaxed to the point of drowsiness. It was a very precise balance to strike.

Not something you could do when you were already weary.


	11. Different

Tao heaved, his body collapsing. That was it for today. He couldn't stand any more. As usual, he thanked heaven he wasn't dead yet. With a life such as his, you really never know when death would come knocking on your doorstep.

He woke up in bed, recuperating. Sleeping in was only allowed following a near-death experience. Tao wasn't sure whether he liked that set of conditions. Though his body healed faster than a non-modified person, his wounds were also deeper than a regular human could handle.

Despite the pain, nature still called, so Tao had to command his weary muscles to drag his skeleton to the toilet.

Aside from sleep, Tao used his recovery time to rummage through Union servers.

It was like an ocean of information stretching back hundreds, if not, thousands of years. The more Tao found about the union's origins, the more he couldn't find. Every bit of info opened up more questions than it answered; so the more he knew, the more he knew he didn't know. It was an incredibly frustrating use of his limited leisure time.

Finally, he decided a better use of his time would be to try to look for his own origins. It turns out that there weren't any recorded documents of any subjects' lives before they were subjects. It was as if Dr. Arith didn't care about who they were, which was most likely the case. Tao then decided to look through Chinese government records of missing persons. He knew his gender and approximate age, which was somewhere between 17 and 25. Scrolling down the long list of names, Tao wondered how else he could narrow his search, seeing as he had no idea if his brain could feel resonance with his former name.

Perhaps searching for an image would help. He knew his appearance couldn't have changed too much; aside from his eye colour and hair, the doctor didn't mess with his bone structure or anything of the sort. He kept a record of his "birth day," the day Yuriy told him his code name and he got a laptop he could mark the date on. He didn't know how much time had lapsed between his kidnapping and his return to consciousness. It should be within a year; Tao couldn't imagine it taking longer for something as simple as memory erasure. With those parameters set, he managed to generate a list of 29 persons. Hmm...

No. No. No. No. No. Nope.

Tao didn't feel any resonance with these profiles.

Well, knowing Yuriy, the man probably knew Tao would be searching for this so he must've taken measures to completely erase whatever evidence there was of Tao finding his past self.

He'd have to try something different.


	12. Place

Tao ran the command to search for all deleted cases of missing male persons aged 17-25 in the government database.

Aha. He knew there must have been more than 29 people. And there was probably more to that too. He looked through the identifying servers to see who did the deleting, and then looked to see if there were any traces of anyone deleting the data on the deletion. There was always a trace of electronic activity; he just needed to know where to look for it. This would narrow down his search much faster.

"Tao," a concerned voice called him.

"What?" Tao turned to Takeo, who was looking at him with apprehension.

The other man pointed to his eyes, "Were your eyes always black?"

Tao adjusted the angle of his laptop, which had a reflective surface. He checked his eyes again. They were dark brown, almost black.

"Well," Tao grinned, double checking with better lighting, "Would you look at that! They are brown again! I guess it wasn't permanent after all!"

"So they used to be brown?" Takeo affirmed rhetorically.

"Yeah," Tao confirmed, admiring himself, "It must be a side effect of stabilizing. I just didn't expect it, is all. I thought my eyes would always stay blue, like yours. This was their original colour, before any of Arith's crazy drugs."

"I see."

"What are you doing?"

"Ah..." Tao looked at his screen, "I was just doing some personal research. Why are you here?"

"I'm just here to tell you that we're leaving for the United States tomorrow."

"Oh, new mission."

"Yeah."

"There's a military unit rumoured to have power users, so we've been ordered to take them out."

"Okay."

First a high-tech corporation, now a secret military operation.

Back when Tao used to have the time to watch cartoons and super hero movies, he wondered how he could use his enhanced powers for good. But he quickly came to understand he was just a lowly minion in an Asskicking-Equals-Authority-Organization, and a minion needed to know his place.


	13. Dream

They didn't spend much time in the U.S.A.

It turns out the rumours were false; well not entirely false, but the enemies' power users were no match compared to their collective weaponry. It was a simple mission: kill everyone. Krantz gave orders, Hammer blew up the facility, Shark cut up every person in sight, Takeo shot those on the run. Tao watched everything, just to make sure they had every person on the list eliminated. He tapped into their monitor systems and was able to relay the location of whatever rat managed to escape their initial massacre.

Without any room to breathe, they were immediately handed a new mission, this time to South Korea.

Time to brush up on his Korean; Takeo was going to be asking for lessons. Despite his cold exterior to the DA-5 and his enemies, the guy was very personable and warm to people he considered 'innocent'. Too bad Tao couldn't fall under the 'innocent' category; Takeo assumed he was always up to something (which Tao won't deny). The man loved to chat with locals with the limited spare time he had. Nobody else cared to learn a new language or culture; after all, they only really needed to communicate with each other and their superiors.

"What exactly are we supposed to be doing here?" Tao asked their captain once they settled into their safe house.

Krantz answered, "Our mission isn't combat oriented this time. We're here to investigate."

That sounded fun; it was what Tao did best, "Investigate?"

"This damn country is already suffocating me and now you're telling me we're here to investigate?" Shark complained, incredulous at the idea. He had so much anger in him that he couldn't imagine not hurting someone within a certain time frame, and this mission didn't seem to give him the permission to do so. They couldn't cause a commotion in a regular city with normal people, or the organization would have their heads.

Hammer laughed at Shark's misfortune, "Ha ha... I didn't expect that either."

"That's how it is," Krantz spoke in a tone that they all knew meant he was following orders, "We're here to investigate everything about Dr. Crombell and what he did during his stay in South Korea."

Shark piped up at the name, "Dr. Crombell? Oh, that researcher?"

"Dr. Crombell..." Tao searched his memory, "It's not officially announced, but he was recently promoted to the rank of Elder. His merits in research were apparently enough to earn him the position."

His teammates looked at him with fresh eyes.

"I was just messing around with some Union servers for fun on the way here," Tao elaborated, "and I found this information by accident."

"He's an Elder now!?" Hammer expressed his surprise at the news.

"What the... So we're supposed to dig into an Elder's past?" Shark was excited about this mission now, "Krantz, did you know about this?!"

"I didn't know either until I just heard it from Tao," Krantz admitted, "but it's all irrelevant. Just like always, we must, and we will, follow orders without question."

Tao could feel the enthusiasm he had for life slowly drain from him with every new order he followed without question. What was the point of living, if your life was not your own to live? He stopped himself from musing any further. He had work to do. Freedom was just a dream.

* * *

Author's note: Starting from this chapter onward, there will be a lot of heavy quoting from the manhwa. I don't claim to own the dialogue. It's not going to seem that original, but I felt it was important not to timeskip what is "canon" because there are points inbetween the lines where I want to highlight Tao's character development. Even if my own writing will be brief at times, I really want to explore the story from his point of view.


	14. Night

The little freedom Tao could afford was buying himself bits of time during missions and between missions to feed his curiosity. He needed to follow some of his heart's desires to stay sane with all the trauma he witnessed and instigated on a daily basis.

Ooh. Would you look at that, Tao checked his eyes in the reflection from his monitor, his irises were cyan blue again.

Anyway. Back to work.

The Union database said Dr. Crombell visited a minor lab in South Korea to pass advice and encourage the workers and researchers under his domain regarding human enhancement. He was accompanied by Jake and Mary as his bodyguards. During his stay, Crombell found that researchers had leaked information to outside organizations, thus ordered the lab to be shut down and all the guards and researchers exterminated. The doctor was the sole survivor. His bodyguards were terminated after a battle with the organization the traitorous researchers were in league with. M-21 and M-24 were also on duty nearby, but M-24 died during a mission. Someone had blocked the information regarding M-21.

Time to hack the local police server.

"Hm?" Tao noticed there was someone else on the server as well, who had immediately noticed his presence and tried to evict him. Tao wasn't going to be denied access that easily; he tried a different tactic and changed his entry point, "Let's see if you can block this one."

But he was greeted with a present: suddenly his screen went blank and the words "PISS OFF" repeatedly flashed across his monitor.

"Heh," Tao let out a chuckle, "Not only did he block me easily, but he's even counteracting with a virus. This guy is pretty interesting."

Talking to himself out loud when he was alone had now become a permanent habit. Tao quickly typed strings of code to override the other user from access.

"Whoa," Tao grinned even wider now, "Where did this guy come from? He's responding immediately to anything I throw at him!" He hadn't been this amused in ages. Not just anyone could predict Tao's moves and counter him so easily.

"This is a local police database," he reminded himself, "not some high-tech corporation or secret military operation... So why's a guy with this level of skill working here?" You would think such a person would have been promoted to higher ranks a long time ago, or recruited elsewhere with more power, "This is interesting. What unexpected luck."

He began to type faster, "You're doing such a fantastic job," Tao complimented his opponent, "Let's see how much more I can push you."

Tao had been seeking company like this since his his days back in Austria. Wonderful! "That's it. Good job. You're defending yourself very well," he was so happy to find another person who knew what he was doing, someone with intelligence, "This guy is the best! Hahaha!"

Suddenly, he stopped. Well. Something must have happened.

Tao resumed his initial job of securing the data he needed, then hid any trace of his being there. Turns out M-21 was spotted in several areas; he'd have to report back to Krantz as soon as possible but it could wait. After all, he was Tao.

Now that he made himself some free time, Tao tried to chat with his foe:

-Hey. What happened...?-

He got a reply:

_-Sorry. My laptop ran out of power.-_

-Ah, I thought it would be something like that.-

_-My handsome cool friend accidentally switched the power off.-_

-Well, it can't be helped. Anyway, you're pretty cool. I liked the present you gave me, as well. You have good taste.-

Tao smiled—a genuine smile; not the kind of smile you make out of politeness or smug grin of superiority when you have accomplished something others couldn't. Tao hadn't smiled in a long time. It felt good.

-It was fun. We should meet again.-

_-So, how old are you?-_

Tao paused.

"Why is he asking me this? How old am I?" That was random. Tao was also known to be random himself, but still... "Well, it's not that big of a deal."

-I'm 24-

_-Can I call you Nuna?-_

-I'm a man-

Strange. Very strange. Tao had never been mistaken as a woman before. Sure he had gotten remarks about seeming feminine, but this was behind a computer! At least Tao's assumption that this was a guy was correct. If his opponent was female, she would've asked if he could be called Unni or Oppa.

"Tao," he heard his name.

"Ah," Tao closed the chat, bringing up a different program, "Hammer, what is it?"

"You found anything yet?"

"I'm just preparing to report it."

"Good. I'll tell Krantz to call everyone in."

Tao got back to work. He made a mental note to himself to see if his new friend was still online later that night.


	15. Same

After Tao did his duty, reported his findings and filled his stomach, he excused himself from the rest of the group and went back to the local police server on his computer.

"Ah," Tao lit up, "He is here after all. I thought he might be... Huh?"

A message popped up on his screen: _Last time the battle was one-sided because I wasn't prepared, but today it won't be so easy!_

"What's this?" Tao got a threat? "So you weren't showing me your true skills last time?"

Whoever this was, was very interesting indeed.

His opponent wasn't as fast nor had the same wide repertoire of techniques as Tao did, due to his experience from heightened training as well as expanded working memory capacity, but there were a few times Tao was taken aback, which was fun. This guy had to be pretty creative to teach Tao a few new tricks!

The next night, Tao traced the IP address of his mystery man and examined his digital footprint:

_Woo Ikhan. Ye Ran High School student._

"Aha," Tao laughed, "So he was a little kid? His level of skill is really high for his age."

He kept scrolling down the profile, "Man! Look at this! His record is really impressive. Since I've been playing with him every night, I have to say I'm glad he's not a pot-bellied geezer... Okay then," Tao decided, "Everyone has gone out and I'm bored anyway."

Tao got out of his chair, "His house isn't far away from here, so I'll go play with him in person."

The air felt cool as he walked briskly. The excitement of his own adventure thrilled him; when was the last time Tao dared to do something like this?

Knock, knock.

A short young man opened the door, "Who are you?"

"Nice to meet you in person at last!" Tao introduced himself, "We were just playing last night, remember?"

A frown deepened in the child's facial features, "What?"

"Wanna head to a cafe?" Tao suggested, "My treat."

The boy adjusted his glasses as he weighed his options between taking the offer or allowing a potentially dangerous criminal into his house.

He closed and locked the door behind him, choosing to follow the stranger to a local coffee shop. If necessary, he would inform the police. It was less risky to stay in public.

"What would you like?" Tao eyed the menu.

Ikhan was still distrusting, "You're really buying me coffee?"

"If coffee's what you want, then that's two small coffees. Milk and sugar?"

"Black."

"Black it is." Tao liked this boy even more now. They had so much in common, Tao almost let out a boisterous cry of glee. He needed to compose himself.

They picked up their order and sat down outdoors at a patio table under an umbrella.

"It's not like I've come to do anything bad to you." Tao leaned over the table, his chin resting atop crossed fingers.

"You expect me not to be suspicious when a hacker knocks on my front door?" Ikhan pushed up his glasses, "You realize I was the one who set up the security system on the police mainframe."

"Ha ha!" Tao admitted, "Fine then."

"How did you find me?" Ikhan demanded, "I didn't think it would be possible..."

"You didn't make it easy," Tao disclosed, "I had to defend against your counter-attacks while and break through your firewalls simultaneously. It required some effort. Did you make all of them?"

"Yes."

"Wow," Tao clapped his hands in applause, "I'm impressed."

The compliment made the boy happy and lifted the heavy mood he had before. He cracked a smile, "Hehe... So... Why did you come find me?"

"No reason."

"Huh?"

"Well, I never expected to find someone with your ability in such a place," Tao elaborated.

"..."

Tao continued, "I'm sure you realized I no longer have interest in the police server. I went back there every night to meet you."

"Ah..."

He was such a shameless stalker, "And I though you felt the same."


	16. Trade

"Well yes," Ikhan admitted to trying to stalk Tao too, however unsuccessful, "Because I've never met someone like you before. I never expected to meet someone so skilled."

"Oh," Tao was happy to hear the compliment, "but I learned a lot from you. I've met many stronger opponents, but you were the most fun." It was probably due to the youth of the boy. Tao too, managed to retain his childishness.

"Really?" Ikhan rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yes. How should I put it?" Tao planned his words carefully, "It almost felt like we were the same somehow. I wanted to meet you because I was curious to see what kind of person you are. I thought you might be able to understand what I feel, since we're so alike."

"Understand what?"

"The loneliness."

"Loneliness?"

"Yes," Tao mused, "the solitude of the highly intelligent. Feeling alone because others look down on my abilities... The higher-ups take me for granted, always telling me what to do... And the brutes push me around as they please..." Tao was ranting now, but he didn't care. It was good to get it out of his system. He'd been wanting to tell someone for a long time now; he'd just never found the right person until now.

"I can sympathize." Ikhan agreed.

Tao sighed, "Intelligent people like us live a hard life." The world wouldn't leave them alone.

"So true," Ikhan let out a sigh as well.

What was this feeling? Tao had never felt it before. Was it bliss? Joy? Gratitude? What was it about being alive that one seeks so strongly to be understood? How wonderful it is to feel understood by someone! How truly, truly wonderful. He didn't know he was missing this all his life.

Now that Tao thought about it, life was rather sad if you went through the motions and was never understood by someone. Is that what people meant when they referred to 'soul mates'? He knew it was not necessarily romantic, but for two souls to be mates meant a deep platonic friendship had been kindled. It dawned on him then, that he'd never had a friend among the DA-5. Sure, they lived together, did things together, accomplished missions as a team. But none of them understood the other, or were willing to let down their guard and be understood. It could mean risking your rank, losing your place and being discarded.

Being a minion sucked.

Tao was going to milk his opportunity to chat for all its worth. He wanted to see just how much the other boy knew. They talked about everything, from the evolution of electronics, the rise and fall of computer companies, the strengths and weaknesses of every software program ever written and sold, the transition from web 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0, Internet privacy and life streaming, hiding one's active and passive digital traces and online identities, the politics of piracy, and which programming language they preferred to use, sharing tricks of the trade.


	17. Walking

How his wishes had come true! Tao made a note to himself that at the next available opportunity, he would purchase (pirate) his own patio umbrella, table and chairs in the same style and design as the ones at this coffee shop. He knew it would be a cumbersome memento, but perhaps many more great conversations would happen in this kind of setting. Life was good at this moment.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Tao laughed. It felt nice to be admired. He had been feeling sick about himself lately, hiding behind a wall of indifference, so he'd forgotten and took his talents for granted. He didn't think he'd ever feel worthy of admiration after all the people and monsters he'd eliminated according to orders.

Ikhan was impressed, "Whoa! How is that even possible?!"

"Ha ha, it's not that big a deal..." Tao remained humble.

"I never even thought of a technique like that!"

"Soon, you'll be able to do it too."

"You're awesome, Hyung!"

"Huh?"

The other boy had sparkles in his eyes, "You're not that much older than me, right? I can call you Hyung, right?" He had clasped his hands together in delight.

Tao gulped. He got too carried away. Hyung? An 'older brother'? Him: a modified human for war?

"Uh... Y-Yeah. Go ahead..." It wasn't like Tao had revealed his true identity at all. He hadn't even said his name.

"Yay!" Ikhan had raised both arms in the air with a triumphant burst of energy.

"Didn't you call me Nuna at one time?"

"Ah," Ikhan calmed down, "that was my friend. He thought I was chatting to a girl..."

"I see," Tao grinned, "I thought you sounded different that time. You have a funny friend." It was nice, having a friend. Too bad he couldn't afford any.

Was this why Takeo was so interested in learning the language of the countries they visited? So he could have meaningful conversations and relax, to pretend for just a short while that he was a normal person, not a killing machine?

"Ugh," Ikhan complained, "He's quite frustrating. We're childhood friends, but he has way too much energy..."

"Ha ha..." Tao was a little envious. Little was an understatement.

"Uh... Yeah. He's a good guy," Ikhan continued, "You'll like him."

"Ha ha." Wait. Tao spotted Shark. This wasn't good, "Well, I have to go. There's something I need to take care of..."

"Huh?" Ikhan looked up at Tao as he briskly got up from his chair, "Oh, okay..." That's too bad...

Tao walked as quickly as a normal human would if in a hurry, mingling into the crowd.

"I'll see you later, Hyung!" The boy called out.

"Well," Tao reassured himself, "maybe I'll run into him later tonight."

Shark quickly caught up with him, "What the hell, Tao? You too?"

Tao kept walking.


	18. Words

Shark's interrogation continued, "Did Takeo have an influence on you? What were you doing with a little kid?"

"It's nothing," Tao insisted, "Just something that piqued my interest."

"I've got enough on my hands cleaning up after Takeo," Shark showed annoyance, "I'm going to be too busy if you start acting that way too."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how he's weak to little kids," Shark replied keeping stride behind Tao, "He even tries to spare child soldiers in battle. And if civilians become involved in our fights, he leads them to safety. Not to mention that he defies orders if he thinks they'll lead to the involvement of innocent bystanders. You know how he is..."

Tao knew, "Well, yeah. That's how Takeo always acts..."

"That's the problem, though," Shark explained, "Thanks to that attitude, I always end up being the one who has to clean up after him."

"Clean up?" Tao didn't like where this was going.

"You know the rules," Shark reminded, "'All subjects that may compromise Union identity or hinder Union objectives must be eliminated'."

"Did you..."

Shark took the bait, "I killed them all. I can't risk his actions somehow revealing our identities. Takeo probably thinks that he saved and protected innocent lives. Hehe... Isn't it hilarious? How he lives in his own delusions?"

Tao didn't respond.

"Though, to be honest," Shark kept rambling, "I killed them mostly because I was annoyed with Takeo, and not because of the Union regulations."

"Takeo might get very angry if he finds out." Tao warned.

"Hmph," Shark buffed, "You think I'm scared of that guy?"

"..."

"Oh, but you don't have to worry."

"?"

"I won't kill the little kid you just met."

Tao almost forgot Shark had seen him with Ikhan, "What do you mean?"

"I just told you," Shark sneered, "The reason I went out of my way to kill those people is because Takeo annoys me. So I won't kill the little kid you just met."

Tao was glad he still fit into Shark's 'not annoying' category. He needed to keep himself there, "Eh. Do whatever you want," he feigned indifference, "Something about him piqued my interest, but you can kill him if you really want to. Makes no difference to me."

There. Now if only he'd believe his own words.


	19. Ramen

It turned out the rest of the DA-5 had captured M-21 while he was out chatting with Ikhan. How embarrassing. He was glad Shark didn't report his behaviour to Krantz.

The lowly agent sat on the floor against the wall, looking miserable and depressed. His face showed signs of being beaten, his clothes were dirt-ridden and dishevelled. However, in his eyes was a gleam of defiance. His spirit wasn't broken yet.

"I will cooperate," M-21 said, "on one condition."

Krantz hid his anger, "Condition?"

"I also have something I want to know. I want you to find it for me."

Shark burst out laughing. He slammed the agent against the wall and kicked at him repeatedly. He wanted to punch M-21's face but Krantz told him to stop.

"What I want isn't even classified information. It will be a minor inconvenience at most," M-21 reasoned, "But I'm the only person who can give you the information you require. It's not such a bad deal, is it?"

"Fine, then," Krantz agreed, ignoring Shark, "Talk."

"I want data about myself and the others who were modified with me, back when we were first enhanced."

"It's a shame," Krantz lowered his head, "but we don't have that information. The deal is off."

"I'm guessing that guy over there is Tao."

"?"

"Wouldn't it be easy for him?" M-21 continued to negotiate, "Getting a hold of experimental records kept somewhere in the Union database?"

"Very clever," Tao was impressed with how far his reputation has spread that even a low ranking agent from Korea considered a failed experiment knew about his talents. He felt sympathy.

When M-21 asked him to search for the information regarding when he and his comrades first became agents, Tao understood that desire completely. He still couldn't find his origins either. Might as well try to kill two birds with one stone. M-21 must be Korean. So with Takeo and himself in the room, all three East Asian brothers were represented. It was the little titbits of knowledge like this that gave Tao moments of highlights against the drudgery of their missions.

"So now that we've reached an agreement, why don't you tell us your information?" Krantz asked his hostage.

"Before that..." M-21 boldly ignored his inquiry, "I'm hungry. Why don't you get me something to eat?"

Tao let out a laugh; Takeo too. M-21 was too much, they'd never seen such an amusing captive. Shark was furious. Most prisoners they've held were rarely this daring. The agent even had the nerve to be picky about his food, demanding they go out of their way to buy him ramen.


	20. Tasty

Hammer went out to the nearest convenience store to buy their hostage some ramen. Curious, Takeo and Tao joined him. Shark stayed behind with Krantz to guard M-21, whose beaten appearance would've aroused unnecessary suspicions, raised pointless questions and left redundant casualties if they dragged the man along.

"Nearby shop, huh? There! That must be it," Tao saw the bright sign reading 'Ramen' and briskly headed down the aisle.

Takeo looked at the many packets, some shrink-wrapped in plastic, other in sealed Styrofoam cups or large plastic bowls. "Reminds me of home," he murmured so quietly Tao almost missed it.

Ramen originated in China, otherwise known as noodles in broth, and became a cultural icon of Japan when Momofuku Ando invented its instant version; just add boiling water—Tao looked up the dish on his phone—that must explain it. There were quite a number of varieties to choose from: did M-21 want _tonkotsu_ or _miso_? He never specified toppings, so Hammer grabbed the plainest and cheapest item on the shelves.

"I wanna try this one," Tao picked out a seafood flavoured packet. He wanted to try one of every type. Beef, chicken, soy; so many brands too!

Takeo was picking a few bowls himself, "Might as well stock up on food while we're here. This is cheap."

"And easy to make," Tao flipped the packet over and looked at the directions.

Hammer looked at the two Asian men with handfuls of instant noodles with disbelief, "You two are grabbing an awful lot, is it really that good?"

"You'll find out, won't you?" Tao grinned as he calculated their budget.

"If Krantz wants my hide for buying ramen for a month rather than just M-21, then I'm going to put the blame on the both of you," Hammer walked to the checkout counter.

"Shopping on an empty stomach is never a good idea," Tao mused aloud.

Takeo nodded, "We all can have a food break. It will soothe our nerves."

By our nerves, he was probably specifically referring to Shark's nerves.

Once they got back to the safe house, Shark listened as Tao read the directions to Hammer and watched the man pour boiling hot water into the plastic bowls. He covered them back up when he was done.

Krantz was initially surprised at the number of bags the three men came back with, but Tao convinced the captain that ramen was great emergency food, palatable and was perfectly storable.

"Now we wait three minutes," Tao rubbed his hands together with anticipation.

"What are these?" Hammer picked up the wood covered in paper, which were attached to the bowls.

Tao slid the wood, no, bamboo out of the paper and cracked the stick in two, "Chopsticks! Time for a lesson in Asian eating utensils!"

Takeo removed his chopsticks and demonstrated his already pro skills in the air.

"Show off," Shark scoffed.

M-21 laughed. Shark kicked the man in the head, "Stop that!"

Tao bit back his lip—it was really too funny when your hostage can eat with more grace than you.

Takeo began to open the packets of flavouring and seasoning oil, squeezing the contents into his bowl of ramen, "We can go out to get forks and spoons if you would rather," he told Shark as he stirred his soup.

That implied Shark was incompetent, something he hated.

Tao emptied the other flavouring packets into their respective bowls, saying as he stirred and handed out the bowls, "I'm sure everyone can manage. See? You hold one stick like this, over your thumb and ring finger, and the other stick goes between your index and middle. To grab something, simply open and close, like so," Tao motioned his fingers to extend the tips and bring them back together, "open, close; open, close—it just takes practice."

Krantz seemed to be doing fine, and Hammer's grip wasn't beautiful, but it was good enough to sweep noodles into their mouths. Shark was too hungry to complain further, grabbing his bowl and lifting it straight to his lips, and was pleasantly surprised as the flavoured soup reached his tongue.

Ramen was really tasty.


	21. Fools

The unfortunate side effect of tasty food is that you naturally want to consume more of it.

"This is the best!" Hammer wanted a second bowl and so he opened another ramen package.

Shark was incredulous at how something so good could be created so instantaneously, "What are the ingredients?"

Takeo only smirked, "Since when did you care about what's in your food?"

"Since it has MSG?" Tao chirped.

Grabbing one of the bowls, Shark ripped the shrink wrap open and tried biting into the pre-cooked noodles, "These are great just as it is. They're like crackers."

"No way," Takeo complained, "your sense of taste is totally skewed. The texture is nothing like crackers!"

Hammer shrugged, also trying to crunch the noodles raw, "We pop pills for nutrients. All we've been eating for the sake of eating in the past is stale bread. Compared to that, this is like salty crackers, but better."

"There's dried meat and vegetables in this one," Tao opened a second serving for himself too.

M-21 interjected, asking, "Do I get a second cup too?"

Takeo grabbed a new plastic container and tossed it to the agent.

Krantz caught it before M-21 could, "He can't get another helping until he tells us what we want to know."

M-21 glared at his food being taken away, "I will speak once Tao finds me the information I request."

"I will find it after I finish this noodle soup," Tao put more water to boil.

Takeo handed yet another bowl to M-21, which Krantz did not object.

Sleepiness began to take over once their bellies had been filled.

"Hey," Krantz ordered their hostage, "you've been fed now, so speak."

"…"

"He's asleep already?" Tao peeked over at M-21.

Shark kicked the man again, "Wake up and talk!"

"How rude," M-21 scoffed, immediately coming back to consciousness, "I'm not going anywhere. I told you I'm not running away. Can't I get a few minutes of sleep?"

Man, that agent had guts.

"I agree to a nap!" Tao raised his hands, "I'm so full!"

"Only one of us needs to be awake to stand guard," Hammer added.

"We don't need to sleep," Takeo cleaned up the empty bowls and discarded packaging.

"Oh come on," Tao whined, "can't we have any normal luxuries for a change? I mean the only time we sleep is when we're almost dead from a fight. I don't call that sleep."

"We're on a mission," Krantz reminded him.

"Yes, yes," Tao opened his laptop, "I'm on it."

"We're taking you to the laboratory. That might help you remember," Krantz ordered.

Shark hoisted up the agent, who fought off the help and drowsiness.

"I can walk by myself," he stood and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Only to find he didn't have pockets. Oh right, he was still wearing the formal suit of his uniform.

"Can I take a shower first?" M-21 asked, "I look like I've been left in an alley to die."

"We don't have showers here," Shark informed him.

"Is that why you look so darn greasy?"

"Can I sew that mouth of yours permanently shut?"

"Then you won't get the information you want."

"We'll make you write it."

"But you've broken my hand."

"We'll make you…" Shark grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists, "Damn you!"

"I'm leaving," Takeo went ahead.

"You don't have a change of clothes, do you?" M-21 continued to pester.

Tao looked up from typing, "I have spare clothes."

"Really?"

"You want nail polish too?"

"What colour?"

"Black," Tao held up his hands, "I don't carry anything else, sorry."

"Let's have a makeover."

Shark wanted to puke.

Happy April Fools.


	22. Safe

Tao toyed with a chair as he searched through the data.

After their ramen break, Krantz had ordered them all to take M-21 to the old Union laboratory, in hopes that the setting will trigger the man's memory and convince him to talk. Takeo went ahead while Shark kicked the hostage up the side of his head for trying to take a nap.

Wanting to see if Ikhan was online, Tao suggested to the captain that he stay behind to search for M-21's origins, which after all, would fulfil their side of the negotiated agreement, thus leaving the man to keep his word and spill the information they needed to complete their mission.

Krantz agreed to Tao's idea, deeming it reasonable. Before they left, Shark had given Tao another request as well, handing him a polaroid picture, "Find these kids for me."

"Who are they?" Tao examined the photograph he was handed.

"Poor things, still so young," Shark didn't bother to hide his anticipation, "They're going to die, thanks to Takeo."

Tao wanted to put Shark's request on hold. He sighed after the man left with the captain, their captive and Hammer.

"What's wrong with me today..." Tao mused aloud, knowing he was procrastinating by watching the progress bar of his algorithm run through the Union server database, "I just have to find them. It's easy."

The memory of Ikhan floated up to the surface.

"Can I call you Hyung?" The boy had asked with radiance and pure admiration.

"Ah..." Tao leaned back, placing his arms behind his head, "What am I doing? This isn't like me at all."

BANG!

Suddenly the door was kicked open. It was Takeo, carrying his rifle.

"Huh?" Tao noticed he had been fighting, "why are you carrying that around?"

"I found an intruder," Takeo reported, "most likely from an enemy faction. The case broke during our skirmish."

"Really. So you killed them?" Tao pressed for details.

Takeo set down his rifle with a thump, "No, he escaped."

"Whoa, he got away from you?" Tao was impressed, "Who was it?"

"I don't know."

Takeo walked away, "But as far as strength goes, he's not worth our concern."

"I see."

Before Takeo reached the door, Tao had to ask something, "Ah... Takeo."

The man stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him.

"Should I try to find out about her? About your sister?"

Takeo whipped his head around, glaring daggers, "Tao... What are you saying?"

Tao paused, "..." Why had he asked that? His mouth continued to form words for him, "No ulterior motives, I swear. Besides, the only thing I can look for is data on how she's doing now. And I can't guarantee that I'll find something. I'm just telling you I can try." Don't expect too much.

"..." Takeo was suspicious, "What do you want from me in return?"

"Nothing." Really.

Takeo didn't buy it, "Nothing?"

"Yeah," Tao gave more details, "I don't have a reason for doing it. I just... I just thought it wouldn't hurt for you to know." Like how he's searching for his own past and M-21's.

Takeo thought about this.

"Ah..." Tao remembered Ikhan, "I do have one thing to ask you..."

"What?"

"Tell me..." Tao breathed out, "What does it feel like to have a younger sibling?"

Perhaps that was what he saw in the other boy. It would explain his desire to protect him and see him grow, extending his skill and abilities.

Takeo averted his gaze, "... I don't know."

"But the organization always keeps you under control by blackmailing you about your sister. Isn't it bothersome?"

"Never," Takeo answered, still facing away, "My sister is everything to me now."

"Ah..." Tao rubbed his chin. What was Ikhan to him? Would he sacrifice everything to keep the boy safe?


	23. Bravery

To keep Tao on task, Krantz stood behind him, watching.

The sooner he could get what M-21 desired, the sooner they'd have the info they needed to complete the mission.

It was strange. It shouldn't take this long.

The information existed in the database unattended for years and now someone had suddenly deleted it recently. It didn't make sense. Just as how the information regarding his past was deleted. Tao was now going through IP address to trace the source.

His suspicions were confirmed. Dr. Crombell deleted all the data just before he left South Korea. Why would he do that?

Suddenly, Hammer and Shark barged back from their outing.

"Damn it!" Shark slammed the door shut, "How could I have been so humiliated by a little brat?!"

"What happened?" Krantz wanted a report.

Hammer answered, "We were beaten."

"Beaten? Really?" Tao couldn't believe it. First Takeo, and now Shark and Hammer too?!

Turns out they fought a real Noblesse! The DA-5 had fought against people that called themselves Noblesse before, but Hammer concluded they must've been lying, because this new guy was on a whole different level of power.

"I remember the briefing we got from the Union during our first mission," Tao reminded, "We were to avoid conflicts with anyone who could possibly be a Noblesse."

Shark wasn't convinced though. He thought the only thing that separated their fighting ability was the mind control unique to Noblesse.

"It's that powerful?" Tao was shocked, "Whoa. It's pretty cool that he can use an ability like that."

Shark scowled deeply, "'Cool' my ass..."

M-21 laughed at the pitiful state Shark was in. It only served to further aggravate the man's already heightened state of emotions. Shark snapped and grabbed M-21 by the neck before proceeding to beat the crap out of his body. Even Krantz's sharp reminder to leave the man alone went ignored. M-21 sure had guts. He had all of Shark's buttons figured out and did not hesitate to use his remaining moments of life to taunt the man to shreds. Shark knew he wouldn't be in deep trouble so long as their captive witness was still alive, even if just _barely_, hovering on the brink of death.

Tao had to mentally give the agent credit and commend him for the show of bravery.


	24. Regret

Hammer eventually convinced Shark to take his frustrations outside, leaving the rest of the DA-5 to guard M-21. It was nice and quiet now.

Tao got back to typing on his laptop. It must have been less than an hour, but then Krantz's phone rang.

"Let's go," He indicated with his hand for Tao to close what he was working on, "Shark and Hammer have something to show us in the other safe house. M-21, get up. You're coming too."

What? What could be that important that he had to stop?

"Man..." Tao whined, "Why are those two making us come here, so troublesome. There's still a lot of work to do." He hated to be interrupted from his research like this. A momentary distraction was one thing, but physically leaving his laptop? Unforgivable!

The other members walked in silence.

"Krantz," Tao inquired, "Did Shark and Hammer tell you what this is about?"

The captain ignored him.

"Che~" Tao sighed, "How irritating."

"Yo~ Comrades~" Shark sounded like he was in a good mood, "You're here? Welcome~" Scratch that, Shark was in a _really_ good mood, "Ha ha ha."

It was then Tao noticed the children on the floor.

"What is this," Krantz was clearly confused, "These children..."

"I told you before, right?" Shark explained, "This kid is a Noblesse. He was with the other children."

"He's young." Krantz didn't expect that appearance.

"Isn't he?" Shark was almost giddy, "He's more impressive than he looks. But you know what's really interesting? Those three kids over there are the kids that Takeo and Tao contacted."

Crap. Shark outed him.

"Isn't it a fascinating coincidence?" The black lips continued to talk.

Takeo spoke first, "What does that have to do with the children being here?" He was angry.

"I told you," Shark was enjoying watching Takeo's eyebrows furrow into a piercing glare, "They were with the Noblesse. I needed them to catch this brat. Things turned out well. I can dispose of all of them without having to go through the trouble of hunting them down separately."

"Hunting them down separately?" Takeo wasn't amused the slightest, "What are you talking about?"

"It means I was going to eliminate those kids anyways," Shark told him proudly, "since they made necessary contact with you."

"You were just going to eliminate those children just because I made contact with them?"

Tao could already hear the fire crackling between the two. Things were going to get ugly real soon.

"You're asking because you really don't know?" Shark taunted, "I've always done this..."

"You've always done this?" Takeo's blood drained from his face, realizing, "You didn't..."

Tao kept his mouth shut.

"If you're confused, I'll explain." Shark was enjoying himself with immense pleasure, "Takeo. Every person you've met is no longer of this world anymore. Just for a bit of fun? To save their lives? Whatever the reason, I've eliminated all those you've contacted during a mission. Innocent people have died because of you. Did you know? Still," Shark pushed Takeo rage further, "thanks to you, at least I haven't been bored... Kuku..."

He snapped, "SHARK!"

Takeo lunged forward to attack, but Krantz forbade it. Takeo soon learned that Krantz approved of Shark's actions, and to think anything otherwise or to continue such defences was foolish. Unable to retaliate against the captain's word, Takeo swiftly turned his back and left the room, seething in fury.

Shark turned to Tao, speaking quietly, "Tao. It couldn't be helped. I wanted to leave out the kid with the glasses, but he was with the Noblesse, so..."

Tao knew what he was getting at.

"You understand right?" Shark took Tao's silence as approval.

The kids were gaining consciousness.

Tao could feel his heat sink. What was this feeling? Was is dread? Was it sadness, mixed with fear? Perhaps a bit of pity too. And regret.


	25. Fast

No. No. No.

Tao didn't regret meeting Ikhan. He couldn't. That moment was the highlight of his life, the only one he knew, living as Tao.

The boy with the smallest frame stood up slowly, "Hyung?"

Tao didn't know what expression was on his face.

"Hyung," Ikhan repeated, "It's you, right?"

Tao finally lifted his face to meet the other boy, trying to keep a smile, "Ah... I didn't think we'd meet again so soon." Tao could hear the slight tremble in his voice indicating fear, though he put in effort to mask it.

Shark burst into a fit of laughter, "Kuhahahaha! Did you hear that? The kid's calling Tao 'Hyung'!"

Hammer smirked and a wicked grin lifted the corners of Krantz's lips as well. The irony of the context was not lost on Tao. He'd been designed to be a killer with no familial bonds, especially not to be brotherly. If you step back and look at it that way, it was funny how he had tried to be otherwise, even for a moment. It was really unlike him. That was more Takeo's thing, and who knows where that man sauntered off to.

"Tao?" Ikhan repeated, "Is that Hyung's name?"

"Yeah." Tao admitted. _Damn it._ Now that Ikhan knows his name, there's no way Krantz would let him get out of the situation alive. Tao needed a lawyer. He needed to find a loophole in the orders where he could realistically save Ikhan without drawing too much negative attention to himself.

"Hyung," the boy continued, "What in the world is happening? Why are we here?"

How to answer him, Tao had not the slightest clue. They were unlucky. All of them. What could he do?

"Ikhan," his friends called out, "you know that person?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ikhan was nervous, "He's a Hyung I met once..."

"What's a person you know doing here?" One of the girls asked.

The other one piqued up too, "They're the ones who brought us here, right?"

"Yeah," Shark entered their conversation, "I brought you. Quite a few of you... I've gone through quite a bit of trouble."

"Why the hell you'd bring us here?" The boy with the red hair demanded.

Humans did not demand of Shark. For his insolence, Shark stomped down hard on the boy's head.

"Shinwoo!" Ihkan shouted out of concern. A normal human would've been dead from the impact. But this boy could still get up.

The Noblesse woke up too. The kids recognized M-21. They began to direct their desperate pleas for answers at him.

Tao felt empty inside. He was powerless to change the situation. Come on Tao, think! Think fast!


	26. Cowardice

M-21 denied all connections to the children. They were useless. That was to be expected. Shark was ready to be rid of them.

"Shark," Tao raised his voice, "Wait a second. If they're not really needed anymore, do we really need to kill them?"

The man turned to face Tao, confused at his behaviour.

"It should be okay to use the drugs we have to erase their memories..."

"Tao," Shark spat, "What kind of non-sense is that?"

"Krantz," Tao had to try pleading, "Wouldn't that be alright? They give us those drugs for times like this."

If they used them repeatedly, there might be some brain damage, but one-time use shouldn't cause any problems. The ordeal might stress the brain a little, but that's got to be better than dying.

"Not permitted."

"Krantz!" Tao sounded desperate, even to himself.

Shark laughed at him.

The captain reminded Tao, "We do not leave behind any dangerous factors."

These children? Dangerous?

"Alright then~" Shark's good mood returned, "Now that it's decided, let's get on with removing this annoying lump of useless baggage."

The noblesse chose then to insult Shark, who beat his face. The red-head named Shinwoo landed a punch to Shark's cheek defending the noblesse. Shark was going to strangle the boy for that.

The other kids began to scream and shout for Shark to stop. Tao winced. Yelling like that would only encourage him.

Seemingly out of nowhere, M-21 transformed and sliced Shark's arm, making him release the human child! He fought shark head to head with wolf-like claws.

Tao watched the fight with a bit of awe. It seems the captain was pleasantly surprised as well. Pleasantly annoyed too; pleasant in the fact that Krantz liked to see skillful fighting, but annoying that it wasn't the skill of his own team member.

"Impressive," Krantz commented to Tao, "Is he really a low-ranking agent? How is he able to transform? His movements far exceed those that a low-ranking agent can possibly show."

Tao agreed, "I don't know what's going on either. There was nothing about this in M-21's profile."

M-21 was able to land several blows to Shark, drawing blood.

"I really need to kill that guy now," Shark said flatly, directed to Krantz.

"Krantz," Tao spoke up in M-21's defence, "If you let that happen, we don't know when we'll be able to finish our mission."

"We can start over the mission without M-21," the captain decided, "the DA-5 can't just let this humiliating episode slide by."

"Krantz," Tao knew there was no way for him to influence the captain to reverse those commands.

"Shark," Krantz ordered, "Permission granted. Make sure you eliminate him."

Tao's stomach churned. Was he really that pathetic? That he still wanted, no, he needed to save the life of a human? Why were his emotions tied in knots?

He couldn't bear to watch as Shark aimed his attack at the kids, leaving M-21 no choice but to take the blows and block them, just to ensure the humans' safety. At this moment, the bravest person in the room was spilling the greatest amount of blood, and Tao wished he had the courage to take the man's place. It was the first time ever, Tao had to acknowledge his own cowardice.


	27. Reverence

Finally, M-21 collapsed to the ground and the noblesse stood up to fight in his place.

Even with D, Shark was overpowered by the smaller boy, who didn't hesitate to release all his speed and power on the man who had abused his friends. In fact, Shark was so overpowered that the captain had to step in to prevent further humiliation from Shark.

This was unexpected. They haven't fought a battle drawn out this long since their days training...

"Shark?" Tao noticed Shark get up after spending a few moments catching his breath, determined to exact his revenge against the rest of the children while Krantz fought the noblesse. M-21 bravely stood up in his way, despite the injuries he had already sustained. Shark stabbed the man through the heart. He fell. Over.

The girls began to wail loudly, crying for him. Shark laughed.

Meanwhile, Krantz easily beat up the noblesse kid.

Tao's phone rang.

"What is it?" the captain asked him, distracted.

Tao examined the device, "The sensors I've set up have detected something."

"Is it Takeo or Hammer?"

"No," Tao corrected, "The sensors are set to recognize us, so none of us should come up in them."

"Then they must be intruders," Krantz concluded, "Is there anyone who would invade this place?"

"Not sure..." Tao replied, "The setup's in the passage to the 1st floor of the research facility, so it'll take at least 15 to 20 minutes for them to get here, so we'll know who they are soon. If you're curious," he added, "we can go and greet them."

"Could it be..." Shark panted, "The other noblesse who was with the brat?"

M-21 started to chuckle. The intruder stepped in without a sound.

What?

Tao blinked, gawking at the new face that seemingly appeared out of the air.

"Who the hell is that guy? Hey Tao." Shark demanded, "Didn't you say it'd take 15-20 minutes? What happened?"

"Y-yeah," Tao was caught off guard too, "You already know that it takes about that long to get from the entrance to here."

"True..." Shark mused, "There's no way he could've come this fast. Is the equipment broken?"

There shouldn't be anything wrong with the equipment. Tao would know. The sensors were activated after he arrived here? That can't be possible.

The children recognized this intruder as someone called "Rai."

Shark interrogated this "Rai" with questions, but the man remained silent. The small noblesse dared to insult Shark again, and so he was thrown against a wall.

The intruder looked around. Suddenly, Tao found he couldn't move his body.

No one could. Not even the captain. The man's aura was overwhelming them all. It had to be mind control.

"I did not give you permission," Rai said, "to move."

Suddenly, Shark began to choke up, unable to breathe. Tao watched in amazement as the most elegant voice said softly, "Neither did I give you permission..." his eyes bore into Shark's, "to breathe."

The kids would be saved. But which side was he standing on? Tao felt a mix of fear and reverence.


	28. Fate

Krantz took the opportunity Shark provided him to break out of Rai's mind control and take the D pill to enhance his strength.

The captain proceeded to attack the new noblesse. The clash of power caused a great crater to crack beneath them, and the oppressive power disappeared.

Tao could move again.

Then, does it mean even that person couldn't survive against Krantz on D? Well... Of course there would be no way to survive and attack from Krantz when he's like this... Tao should know.

"W-what in the..." Shark stuttered.

Tao was left speechless.

"How could he..." even the younger noblesse gasped, "That kind of powerful attack..."

Rai had stopped Krantz with one hand.

"Get lost."

With those words, the captain sprang backward as if a wind knocked him out, crashing into the wall with enough force to shake the building.

"Krantz..." Shark gaped.

Tao finished his sentence, "was defeated."

Rai then glanced his way. Tao wondered if it was his turn now.

"?" No, Rai wasn't paying him attention, he was interested in the man next to Tao, who was trembling so much he could no longer stand.

"Hi-ik... D-don't come any closer!" Shark crawled backward as the noblesse walked toward him.

Krantz attacked Rai from behind.

Shark was relieved, "Of course," he reaffirmed, "There's no way you'd go down that easily."

"Shark," the captain commanded, "You take the D."

"Got it," Shark put the pill in his mouth, "That kind of monstrous guy is a first, but there should be a chance of victory if we team up." His skin colour darkened and his muscles bulged at the sudden surplus of energy.

"Let's try it." Tao heard the captain say.

Suddenly, Krantz jabbed his hand into Shark's back. Shark turned around, "K-Krantz?"

"Krantz!" Tao shouted, "What the hell are you doing?! Why do that to Shark..." It made no sense.

"No need to be surprised," Krantz was calm, "I'm merely doing what I have to do."

"What..." Did Tao want to know, "does that mean?"

"Keuk..." Shark felt his energy draining, "Krantz, you..."

"I'm only following the plans for when I encounter an opponent too strong."

"Even so," Tao didn't comprehend, "attaching Shark like that..." wouldn't it make their team weaker?

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not attacking Shark, I'm..." the captain explained, "absorbing Shark's power."

"What?"

"From the beginning," Krantz revealed, "that was your intended purpose."

Tao's world crumbled around him, "How could that be..."

"To make it simpler, DA-5 was created for me, and only me," Krantz was smug, "Until now, we haven't faced an opponent stronger than us, so I didn't need to resort to this... But now I'm following the original plan."

"Keuuk..." Shark, like a malnourished zombie, crumpled to the ground, dead. That could be him next.

"Mm..." Krantz flexed his muscles, "Not bad."

Tao stopped listening for a moment, his thoughts crowding him. This could not be true. No. He was kidnapped to be food for Krantz? His purpose, his genius, was for that? What a miserable fate.


	29. Blood

He noticed each of Krantz forearms had a blade protruding, "That's..."

"Ah, this?" Krantz bragged, "I'm able to use it since I've absorbed Shark's powers. It wasn't only his power that I absorbed, I also took in his supplementary ability. So that I can use that ability when suitable."

That's how it was. Tao thought they were just using the weapons that they each favoured... From the very beginning... they were only created for this purpose. Weren't they modelled after Cerberus? Or is this the Cerberus model? Did those bodyguards also exist to eventually be consumed by their leader? He wasn't surprised the doctor would keep him in the dark about that. He never did trust her or Yuriy anyway.

"So," Tao added, "There must also be a reason why you told Shark to take 'D'."

"Yes," Krantz elaborated, "Using 'D' to raise as much power as possible, then absorbing it, brings the most effective results. Thanks to Shark's powers, I'm twice as fast and powerful than I usually am."

Which, Tao knew, was far more powerful than he could ever dream of being. He stood no chance to fight against his newly revealed destiny.

Krantz threw another series of attacks against the enemy.

"Tao!" The captain shouted his name when he found even with Shark's power, the noblesse was still untouchable.

I guess he means to absorb my powers now.

"What are you waiting for?!" Krantz yelled, "Are you going to disobey an order?!"

"Aah..." Tao let out what he thought would be his last words, "Okay, I got it. Just, be gentle, don't make it too painful." Eh, if he was going to die anyway...

"Hyung!" A voice shouted.

That was the sound of his 'younger brother'. Tao turned around.

"Why are you listening to that person?" The boy screamed at him, obviously distraught, "I don't know what to believe right now, and I don't know what the heck is going on, but... That man is intending to kill you, Hyung. Why are you just accepting death like that?"

He's... Worrying about me? Tao had never had someone worry about him. That was new. How touching.

"Well..." Tao rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm not too sure either. You kids wouldn't know."

Krantz had always given Tao the silent treatment when he was down, or given him orders to do something. Shark laughed at any show of weakness, Takeo remained distant and Hammer would just tell Tao to get back to normal as soon as possible and cheer the hell up. Hazel would have worried, but the nurses and assistants of the past have probably all been replaced since he'd left the lab. Subjects died all the time. It wasn't anything new. Doctors and assistants alike knew not to become attached to their 'work.' It would only end badly. Like this.

"Huh?" Ikhan didn't comprehend.

Apologetically, Tao added, "This is the fate of modified humans like me."

"What..." Ikhan faltered, "is that?"

Tao laughed what may be his last laugh.

M-21, Tao thought, I felt sorry for you, for being a failed experiment, used and tossed around by the Union like trash... But now I'm rather envious of you.

Hands roughly grabbed his throat, "Keuk," Tao gulped.

"Tao," Krantz was furious now, "Stop dawdling. Hurry and take the 'D'."

Tao didn't want to. He tried to unwrap the captain's fingers from his neck.

"Hurry up!" Krantz spat.

"Rai!" Ikhan shouted to the older noblesse, "Please. Save that Hyung. If it's you... It's possible, right? Please!"

The girl behind him agreed, "Y-Yeah. Unlike the others, he tried to keep us from getting killed!"

He did? Oh. Right. He had suggested erasing their memories. So he did care more than he let himself know. Tao decided; he wasn't a coward.

"They dare to deep talking nonsense..." Krantz muttered, preparing to attack with his free hand.

Tao used this opportunity to retaliate and wrap his wires around the captain's arm before leaping away and sending the strongest electric surge of power he could muster.

"Keuuuk," Krantz glared and sliced through Tao's shock attack.

"Tao. You..." The captain was incredulous, "What are you doing?"

"Sorry Krantz," Tao stepped further back, "You want to kill me, while those kids want me to live. I couldn't just stand by and let you hurt them."

"You bastard!" Krantz delivered a punch that sent Tao flying into the wall, the force of the impact causing the material to crumble and drop to the ground with him.

"How dare you betray me and the organization..." Krantz was seething with rage.

"Ugh..." Tao gasped for air. If he was going to die, he was going to die a hero. That was a meaningful death.

Ikhan turned to the noblesse, "Rai!"

"Halt."

At that one word, the captain halted, "Huk!"

"Why..." the noblesse's voice rang, "are you asking me? Ikhan. Yuna. Shinwoo. Suyi. There is no need..." he turned to Krantz, "for you to ask me."

Droplets of blood raised from the ground.

A blood field trapped the captain, then, spinning like a tornado, crushed him in a giant beam of light extending to the heavens.

It rained blood.


	30. Boss

Such power...

So is he a noblesse after all? Such incredible power! And the fact that even Krantz was rendered helpless and completely wiped out. Even Shark's nearby corpse was swept away, with no traces remaining... Unbelievable!

Two more intruders showed up. Wait. No. They weren't intruders anymore than Tao was. He was the only one who wasn't a part of their group.

One was a man with long blond hair; the other was a white haired female. They tended to the children immediately.

"You there," the blonde one turned to him.

"?"

"One of your comrades is lying injured on the rooftop of a nearby building."

"What?" Who could it be? Is it Hammer? Or Takeo?

The man turned away, "Bring him and follow us."

"Ah," Tao was being given orders again, "Yeah..."

Tao sprinted away. A nearby building... He scanned the rooftops for a body.

There!

He found Takeo lying in a pool his own blood, with holes punctured through all his limbs and a giant one through his chest.

Must have been quite the fight.

"Takeo," Tao checked to see if the man still had any consciousness.

An ice cold stare returned his gaze. A cough, "Tao..."

Oh good. He was alive. Better get him help with his injuries.

Tao lifted the other man up slowly, "Can you walk still?"

Takeo took a few steps. He let out a groan. The wounds weren't fully closed. The movement tore through some of the clotting, sending him pain.

"Come to your senses, Takeo!"

Then he collapsed, the weight of his lifeless body taking Tao down with him.

Augh, Tao sighed, pulling Takeo over his back, draping his arms over his shoulders. The man finally lost consciousness. Well, he couldn't be blamed.

Tao was somehow the last man standing from the DA-5. He wasn't even the strongest one.

Leaping down with Takeo's body, Tao carried Long Locks back to the others, who led him to a mansion owned by the blonde man the children called Headmaster, or Principal Lee. He was the man who had ordered him to find and bring Takeo.

So in this house, he was the boss...


	31. Rude

Tao was impressed. The house had a large porch and the interiors were very spacious, clean and clear, filled with simple, but very high quality furniture, a wide glass-topped table, modern décor, elegant wallpaper and a great crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the living room.

"Put him down and take off his jacket," the blonde man ordered Tao again, pointing to the white floor. It was such a contrast between the tidy ground and Takeo's blood-stained clothes. Tao didn't really want to dirty the man's house, but let the man on his black slide off of him.

Miss Seira quickly arrived with more medical supplies. They cleaned up Takeo's injuries, attended to M-21, bandaged Shinwoo and wiped down the floor to leave it just as polished as it was when they arrived.

"There were five of us..." Tao found himself saying aloud as they finished.

Seira felt what Tao was getting at, "I fought him. He's not here."

Ah. So Hammer died too. He just wasn't sure how.

"So Takeo fought...?"

She pointed to the blonde man.

Tao nodded. That was the same guy Takeo had said he fought before when he interrupted Tao's research the other day.

"All right, now they need to rest," Principal Lee directed their attention to the stairs, "there's a guest bedroom at the end of the hall, bring them there."

He followed the female noblesse up the stairs and into a small bedroom with two beds.

"Here," the Headmaster directed the two girls carrying M-21 to put him down on the bed closest to the window.

Tao tucked Takeo into the other bed.

"Now there's tea and coffee downstairs," the Principal motioned for the children to leave, "you can talk in the living room. I just have some tests to run."

Tests, huh? What was he? A doctor too?

"What happened...?" The girl called Yuna asked out loud to no one in particular. They walked down the stairs.

Tao rubbed his nose, "It's a long story."

Why was he answering? Well, with Hammer, Shark and Krantz dead, and Takeo temporarily out of commission, he was free to talk now.

"Where should I start?" He asked more to himself than to the kids.

"You know what was going on, Hyung?" Ikhan's curiosity was struck. The boy really wanted to know.

"Your friend," Tao looked over at shortest noblesse, "Regis, right? He fought that really creepy guy with the black lipstick that kidnapped all of you."

The children all nodded their heads. They recalled that clearly.

"He's a vampire. So is the girl over there," he looked Seira's way.

"What?" Shinwoo cried in disbelief, "No way~ That doesn't make any sense!"

"Yeah," Ikhan agreed, "It makes no sense!"

"How could something like that NOT be known in a world like today?" These were only fairytales to scare kids!

Ikhan frowned, "You're kidding us, right?"

"But it's true..." Tao said meekly.

"How can it be true?" Ikhan asked on behalf of the girls who stayed quiet, "It's not like some manhwa or anything..."

Tao raised a pointer finger, "Then, can you realistically explain the situation you guys have just been in? A person breaks a wall like it's nothing. Battles fought with movements too fast for a normal guys like you to track."

"Now that I think about it..." The redhead paused, "A ton of unbelievable stuff DID happen... Then..."

"Regis and Seira really are vampires? Like those from the stories?" Ikhan finished for Shinwoo.

The girls tried to comprehend the new information in their minds.

"Ah, well..." Tao tried to come up with a better explanation, "You can't really say they're exactly the same..."

The noblesse called Regis sat next to Seira on the couch, his arms firmly crossed, "Hn~" he was annoyed, "How can you even compare us to those things..."

Okay, Tao noted, it was a really terrible comparison. The kids were probably coming up with all kinds of nonsensical pop-culture references to vampires that undoubtedly did not fit the noblesse.

"Wait!" Ikhan seemed to be reading Tao's mind, "If they're vampires, doesn't it mean they drink human blood? Then..." He kept going, "That means they suck people's blood?"

"Eeekk!" The human children shrieked.

Tao wanted to laugh at the situation, but that would be rude.


	32. Second Time

"Regis," Ikhan stuttered, "D-do you... Drink human blood?"

Shinwoo, who Tao assumed was the 'childhood friend' Ikhan had referred to during their coffee break, trembled behind the shorter boy with glasses, biting at his nails.

"No," Regis felt the aggravation coming on but struggled to keep his composure, "I don't."

"If you don't..." Ikhan was sure courageous, "Then doesn't that mean you still _can_?"

"You call that a question?" Regis closed his eyes to hide his increasing annoyance with the subject, "Humans are also able to drink blood. They consume other animals' blood, can they not?"

So Regis was referring to eating meat and poultry, then?

"Ah~" Ikhan sounded relieved, "I see."

Maybe he was a vegetarian vampire.

"Hyuu~" Shinwoo took his hand out of his mouth, "That's a relief. But since you're not saying that you aren't, it really must be true then. To think that Regis and Seira are vampires... If they're hungry, would they _-sluuurrrp-_ suck our blood?"

"Yeah," Ikhan fed off Shinwoo's sound effect, "Biting our neck, like _wa-sahk-wa-sahk_~..."

"Isn't '_wa-sahk-wa-sahk_' more like the sound when you chew kimchi?" Shinwoo corrected.

"Oh..." Ikhan thought about it, "Is it?"

Such a wild imagination!

"That's enough!" Regis snapped, puffs of smoke coming off his head, "How can you sat that we're anything like those inelegant things?!"

His mood was completely soured by the discourteous sounds the children made.

"Eeek!" The boys cried, "I don't exercise a lot, so my blood isn't fresh!" Ikhan grabbed Shinwoo's torso in defence, "I-I'm sorry! My blood tastes bad!" Shinwoo grabbed Ikhan's shoulders.

Tao decided to step in, "You guys are misunderstanding something. Your friends are really quite different."

"Eh?" Shinwoo looked Tao's way, "What do you mean by that? You just said they were vampires..."

Stroking his chin, Tao added more words, "Well, it's convenient to use the term 'vampire,' but how should I say this? In all honesty, we really can't compare your friends to 'vampires.' To put it briefly, they're exalted beings that we can called nobles."

"Hehh~" Shinwoo tried to wrap the idea around Regis.

Ikhan got it, "Then, they're sort of like those classy vampires from the stories? The vampires that live in elegant castles like real nobility?"

"Oh~" the redhead smiled, "That's a fitting image. It makes things easier to understand. Nice~ Ikhan~"

"What about you, Hyung?" Ikhan turned to Tao.

"Me?" Tao rubbed his nose, "My colleagues and I were originally humans, but our capabilities were enhanced through experiments. Simply put, we can be seen as modified humans. We're not..." he disliked admitting, "really human. Shall I say..." Tao took a deep breath, "We're monsters created by humans for some aim or another. Hahaha~"

The laughter helped to cover for the nervous butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He hadn't wanted Ikhan to know...

"Ah..." Ikhan's head dropped, saddened.

The children all looked a bit depressed at the concept. It was a depressing fate.

"Then," Ikhan changed the subject, "What about Rai?"

"Rai?" Tao remembered. That man's name is Rai? Yes, that was what the kids had been yelling when the man arrived at the scene of the battle, "W-well..." That man was more powerful than a noblesse, "I'm not sure about that person... Please don't ask me about him. Hahaha~" He didn't know everything!

It was then that the Headmaster returned from running his 'tests'. The kids immediately asked about 'Ajussi', or M-21. It seemed both he and Takeo would be recovering just fine. He apologized to the human kids, "I'm sorry you had to experience something like this again."

Again? Tao was just as curious as the children were. It turns out they've had their memories erased before. It made sense. Remembering would only endanger them further. Human beings had never been good at keeping secrets.

A heavy atmosphere filled the room as it became clear to everyone that the human's memories would be lost a second time.


	33. Sweet

The human girl Yuna finally found her voice, "All of you put in so much effort for our sake..." She looked up at Rai, "Is it really okay for us to live without knowing that?"

Rai put down his cup, so softly, it made no sound, "Of course..." his voice echoed in the silence, "Because they're not hoping for their actions to be remembered by anyone. They have merely..." the children began to cry, "done what they wished to do."

Tao smiled. How honourable this man was. The children were in good hands. More than good hands.

He looked at his own hands. If only they were even half as capable...

The Union was right about the noblesse. But they were also wrong about them too...

It wasn't just their powerful aura and ability to control minds that should be feared, but the virtues these individuals embodied were enough to make anyone drop to their knees in humility. The courage, bravery, trust and self-sacrifice...

After their memories were sealed away, the Headmaster had the children return home. He made phone calls to the parents to let them know the 'story' of why the kids have been away. This was for the best.

It was quiet in the house now, without the kids.

Tao stood still, not knowing what his role was. He wasn't able to help with anything. Suddenly, his introspection was interrupted.

"Why don't you stay the night? Your comrade will probably wake in the morn." Principal Lee showed Tao to another empty bedroom. How many of these did the man have in his house?!

Tao bowed his head, "Thank you for your hospitality and for treating Takeo. Please take care for the night."

"It's the lease I can offer. You helped save the children."

Those words echoed in Tao's mind.

Why? Why was he still alive? He helped save the children...

Takeo too? Is that why they were the only two left? Because they both dared to care for humans? They hadn't yet tossed aside their humanity; their capacity for feeling, for empathy and love? He must have done something right... Following his heart.

What was M-21's connection to those kids? Were they part of his mission? Wait. Crombell deleted the data.

RIGHT! That was what Tao was doing before Shark and Hammer called the rest of the DA-5 to where they kidnapped the kids! His laptop was still in their last safe house!

Tao opened the window as quietly as he could, then slipped through and jumped down to the street, darting outside.

He didn't need sleep. This wasn't the first time he forgave rest to work.

There was a lot to clean up.

Tao packed up all the remaining supplies, making sure to leave no traces of activity behind. He didn't need to worry about Krantz or Shark's corpses; Rai has obliterated those. He needed to find Hammer's body though.

The rubble was still there, where the fight had taken place. Tao held his phone and scanned it for life. Even if a few cells remained alive, Tao would know. There was none. His entire body must have decomposed. Okay, that was good.

Back in his temporary bedroom, Tao piled up all the electronics and equipment he could salvage. Then he opened his laptop.

There were a lot of video footage to edit.

"What are you doing?"

The Headmaster had opened the unlocked door.

Tao shifted his weight on the bed, "Cleaning up."

"Smart."

"Ha ha..." Tao rubbed his neck, "Thanks."

"Make sure to sleep."

"I will."

It was like the father figure he never had. This man showed concern? Like the kids?

Tao rubbed his nose again, these people kept touching his heart in places he didn't know were there. It was really sweet.


	34. Hope

The smell of something sweet woke up Tao.

So he had fallen asleep sometime early in the morning... He let out a yawn and stretch his arms and legs, "Ehhyaaa~" He felt like a cat. Tao rolled around the bed, "Raaawurmph." He hadn't woken up like this since he was a child.

Wait.

A child? When had he remembered what it was like to be a child? He didn't recall his childhood.

He's always been afraid to wake up in such a manner back in Austria and when the DA-5. People would come to investigate the strange noises. They would make fun of him and call it silly.

It felt good, and that was what mattered! Tao rolled around the floor and stretched some more, "Gaergh... Mmm..."

The sun was shining through the window. That was the perfect start to the day. Tao checked the mirror and brushed his hair. He didn't really have a change of clothes with him. These weren't too dirty since he didn't fight much. He patted them down. He looked fine. Okay. Time to celebrate his first morning of freedom!

Opening the door, he found the Headmaster outside, about to knock, "Oh. Just in time. I was going to ask if you wanted to join us for breakfast."

"Ah," Tao smiled with a radiant, "yes."

He followed the man down the stairs to the kitchen. There was a large table with enough seats for ten people. And the food!

There were so many choices! There were all kinds of dishes, different sized plates for appetizers and desserts, with freshly baked buns and rolls, sautéed steak and kale salad, breaded turkey drumsticks and leafy greens, rice rolls and sushi, kimchi and other pickled vegetables.

Was this really a breakfast?! It was like a buffet for a king!

Tao sat down at a chair next to Rai.

Stay calm, Tao. Stay calm. It's just food. Just really, really good food. Eat it one bite at a time.

Tao took his first bite.

Then another, and another. He tried a little bit of everything he could see on the table.

"It's so delicious..." Tao's taste-buds were on cloud nine, "to think I'd be eating such food!"

Oh, how he had been deprived of such culinary arts!

"May I asked who cooked all this?"

The blonde man answered him, "Miss Seira did, of course."

"Wow, Really?" Tao let out a squeal of sheer and utter delight, "Kyah~ You're incredible."

A faint blush appeared on Seira's cheeks, making them rosy.

"It's her first time making most of these dishes," the man continued to inform him politely, paying the girl more compliments, "I only gave her a dew pieces of advice..."

"Ohh~" Tao was ecstatic, "You're beautiful and a great cook... As expected form a noblesse!"

The youngest noblesse crossed his arms, "Seira has always been good at cooking."

Tao tapped the bowl of ramen, "Especially this! This is ramen, right?"

"Yes," the Headmaster replied.

"Did Miss Seira also make this?"

"No," he answered, "I made it."

"Huk!" Tao gasped, "Seriously?!" The boss could cook? "The first time I actually saw ramen was when M-21 was eating it. But I didn't know that it was such a delicious food. There's no way all ramen would taste this good, is there?"

"Of course," Principal Lee grinned, "This ramen is the fruit of my research. Optimal water temperature, and without even a 0.01 mL error in water volume..."

"I see," Tao grinned back in all seriousness, "I suspected that this would be no ordinary ramen. Making such ramen as this... You are incredible."

"Did you say your name was Tao?"

"Yes," Tao acknowledged, "That's right."

"You have an eye for these things," he had a gleam in his eye, "You must be used to hearing how smart you are. You're very well suited for society."

"Ha ha~" Tao laughed, embarrassed all of a sudden, "I guess? I do often hear that I'm smart, but not so much that I'm suited for society..."

That may change, however, now that Tao had the freedom to actually mingle with society at large. There were two pairs of eyes watching him.

"Oh?" Tao finally noticed, "Takeo! You're awake! And you too, M-21?"

He got out of his chair to greet his fellow, no, former, comrade. They were free to just be friends now that there would be no more missions from the Union. Tao had hope.


	35. Mind

"Takeo, how are you feeling?" Tao asked with concern.

"I can move," he replied, "but just barely. More importantly, why are we here?"

"No other choice," Tao filled him in, "We had to treat your wounds somewhere far away from that place. So we ended up having to get help from these people."

"I see..." Takeo nodded, turning to the chairman, "Thank you for all this."

"Oh," the Headmaster smiled, "it's not that big a deal..."

"What about Krantz, Shark and Hammer?" Takeo asked Tao.

Tao shook his head.

Takeo understood, "Tao. We're withdrawing. Our mission was a failure, but that can't be helped." The past was the past.

But there was still more the other man didn't know, "Takeo. I don't think it's a good idea to go back."

"What are you taking about?" Takeo eyed Tao strangely, "Is it because of these people?"

"No. That's not it," Tao told him.

"Then why?"

He had to be the messenger, "Krantz is the one who killed Shark."

"What?" Takeo gasped, "Krantz killed Shark? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Shark died after all of his powers were absorbed by Krantz," Tao elaborated.

Takeo repeated after him, unbelieving, "Krantz absorbed Shark's powers? What the hell..."

"Krantz said that," Tao continued his role of informant, "from the very beginning, the DA-5 was a team created only for him. We steadily cultivated our powers merely for Krantz's sake. In the end, not only our powers, but also our life force were to be absorbed by Krantz. DA-5 isn't so much a special unit carrying out the organization's missions. It's more like research material. That's what we were created for."

"That's..." Takeo stared blankly.

Tao was solemn, "I know it's hard to believe. After he was finished with Shark, Krantz tried to get me too. And it was then I got help from the kids..."

"..."

"Do you think the organization will just let us return when three of the unit are dead? And especially without Krantz—the most important experimental material?"

"..."

"I have no intention of going back to the Union, now that I know we've been created only to be used as nutrition for Krantz. I will never..." Tao felt rage fill in his throat, "go back to them."

"But Tao," Takeo finally found words, "You're not actually thinking we can escape from the Union, are you?"

"Takeo," Tao reminded, "Did you forget who I am? I'm Tao~ I can cover our tracks perfectly. For all they know, we died during the mission."

"Yeah," the other man agreed, "It would be possible with you. But unlike you, I have to..."

Tao knew, "You need to go back because of your sister, right?"

His silence confirmed it. It wasn't fair that Tao had freedom while Takeo was still chained. Tao made up his mind.


	36. True

"We failed our mission," Tao continued to state to his colleague, "You think they'll just overlook that fact? And, the mission wasn't just a failure—it was an utter humiliating and costly failure."

"..." Takeo knew the other man was right.

"Your sister might become in even more danger," Tao reasoned, "It may actually be better for her if they believe you died during the mission."

Takeo gritted his teeth, "..."

"Takeo," Tao told him his resolve, "I'm going to find your sister."

"What?"

"If we want to find her and rescue her, it'll be better if we disappeared from the Union's radar so we can move freely."

"Tao," Takeo bit his lip, "Why would you go to such lengths..."

"I didn't really like the other guys," Tao shrugged, "but you were okay. I was rather glad it's you who's alive, and not them."

"Tao..." Takeo must have understood the feeling, "Okay then." He agreed, "But we should hide ourselves somewhere far away from this place. We can't drag other people into our problems."

"Got it."

Tao rubbed the back of his head, turning to face M-21, "It was only for a while, but I had fun. So I guess this is farewell."

"We're greatly indebted to you," Takeo added.

The chairman left his seat, "Going already? More time is necessary for your body to recover."

Takeo wasn't convinced, "We shouldn't trouble you any more."

"Ah," Tao remembered, "M-21."

"?"

"About the information you wanted," Tao had been double-checking this last night, "I found something before Shark called us over the the research facility..."

"What?"

"It was kind of strange, actually. Finding a lead to a data about you guys wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. Since it wasn't really classified as high-security material."

"..."

"The lead was pretty much just research data, split up and stored in several different places. The experiment was classified as a failure, so no surprise there. That's why I thought I could easily access the experimental data on you guys, but I wasn't able to."

M-21 couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Everything's gone," Tao summarized.

"What?"

"When I delved further," Tao revealed, "I found out that it was Dr. Crombel who got rid of the data. They were destroyed not too long ago. Specifically after Dr. Crombel left after finishing his business here. They've been sitting neglected for years before he destroyed them. I wonder, why on earth would Dr. Crombel hurriedly get rid of your guys' data? Especially when the experiment was concluded to be a failure."

M-21 grit his teeth.

"We'll see ourselves out now," Takeo hinted to Tao.

"Everything that's happened here will be kept a secret, so don't worry," Tao wrapped up what he wanted to tell the other agent, "maybe we'll meet again someday."

He turned to leave with Takeo.

"Wait!" M-21 called out. He turned to the Principal, "I've a favour to ask."

"Favour?" The Headmaster acknowledged M-21.

"Those two..." He struggled to say, "Let them stay here."

"What?" Takeo couldn't believe his ears.

Tao too, "M-21. What are you saying?"

"Asking for this kind of thing..." the other agent looked down, "I know just how shameless it is. After all, I'm also just a guest here. But, I just can't let them leave like that. Like me, they've been used and then discarded. And if the Union discovers them... They won't be able to escape. Please..."

Tao was humbled by his show of compassion. This man... "M-21..."

"..." The boss of the house kept smiling, "Why are you so tense?" he asked M-21, "If that's what you want, then that's what'll happen. This place is your home too, after all."

"..."

He looked just as shocked as Tao and Takeo. Who were these people that were kind enough not to just tend to their wounds, but to house them, feed them and let them call the place home? They were entirely too generous! What kind of host welcomes people like them with open arms? It was like a miracle too good to be true!


	37. Future

Tao was elated that a miracle did happen.

After school, the children came to play over at the chairman's house and he could hear the sound of Ikhan's laughter again!

The noblesse have a truly incredible ability. For memory erasure to be possible without any problems...

The Union-supplied drug causes problems for the brain cells, and because it erases all memories of a specific period, it would leave an empty vacuum in their minds...

Instead, they had completely forgotten only the supernatural elements, replacing them with the hypnotic story supplied by the Headmaster, the details filled in by the children's individual imaginations.

"So," Ikhan checked, "you two are relatives?"

"Yes," Takeo answered, "Though our nationalities are different since our family is so cosmopolitan."

Shinwoo nodded, making sense of the new information, "Your names even sound similar."

"It's really fascinating how Shinwoo and Yuna know Tao's cousin."

They were like one big family now! Tao never imagined having the feeling of family before.

"Haha~" Takeo was enjoying himself freely now, "If it wasn't for you two, I would have been in a very difficult position. To meet my rescuers, Shinwoo the beast and the very sexy lady Yuna, here like this..."

The girl named Suyi spit out her drink at the crude descriptions of her friends.

Takeo kept going, unperturbed, "And, it's not only miss Yuna—even miss Suyi has a killer body."

Ta-Takeo? Tao didn't think his jokes would ever come back to haunt him like this.

"Perhaps it's because miss Suyi is an entertainer," he smiled in her direction, "but your hotness shines even more brilliantly..."

Tao had to cover his mouth from the laugher that threatened to leap from his lips.

"I can't listen to this anymore!" Regis snapped first, "How can you speak about such crass things!"

"Crass?" Takeo was confused, "My words?"

Takeo didn't know what crass meant.

"Of course," Regis fumed, "Are you saying there is nothing wrong with using such crass expressions in front of ladies?"

"Takeo." M-21 piqued, "Where did you learn Korean?"

Uh-oh.

"Me?" Takeo tapped his head, "I learned it from Tao..."

Tao couldn't hold it any more. His body was shaking, _keuk keuk..._

"Uh," he turned to his new 'cousin,' whispering, "Actually..."

"?"

"Crass," he switched to Japanese, "means rude, vulgar or insensitive, and calling a lady, especially a girl who's still in school and under-age," he switched back to Korean, "hot and sexy," and back to Japanese, "doesn't mean cute and sweet, it means 'killer body' or 'sweet chunk of meat'; something only a man would say to make her feel uncomfortable. Such comments are culturally designed to objectify their bodies, reducing their value to only physical appearance and sex in late night bars."

Poor Takeo. He really had no idea what he was saying. Haha...

The normally uptight man trembled in shame, "What have I done?"

"It's okay~" Tao comforted him, "It's okay~" He was a foreigner, it was forgiveable.

Still, the likelihood Takeo would ever show enthusiasm for learning another language from Tao... Well, Tao could live with that. M-21 was hiding his amusement as well.

Too bad Tao's search for M-21's origins led him to a dead end. It bothered Tao that someone higher up in the Union outmatched him. He made a mental note to spend some time every now and then to see if he could hack Crombel for the information. It was most unfortunate M-21 had such a... a code, not a real name. Tao would definitely look further into it, as best he can. If the man left only one survivor from his visit to South Korea, he must've been up to something. Crombel would certainly keep that information somewhere secret, so he could taunt M-21 about it. Just as how Dr. Arith and Yuriy continued to elude him about his origins.

Tao looked at all the smiling faces he was currently surrounded by.

He decided he didn't need to know who he used to be. It no longer mattered. He wasn't going to be taunted, Tao thought, it would spoil the cheery mood and bright atmosphere. He had found harmony and happiness for the time being. He was Tao now, to the children. He could be himself with them. That's what mattered.

Sometimes it's just more convenient to left go of the past, even with loose ends dangling, and focus on making the most of the present, with hope for a brighter future.


End file.
